Takeda and Amylin in marketing deal

A Japanese pharmaceutical firm is teaming up with a company in the US in the hope that it can develop and market new obesity drugs.

As part of the agreement, Takeda Pharmaceutical, which is Japan's biggest drug company, plans to pay Amylin Pharmaceutical a one-time payment of US$75 million.

Both companies are already well-known for manufacturing diabetes drugs under the names of Byetta and Actos.

The agreement between the two companies will guarantee long-term co-operation, and Takeda Pharmaceutical has promised to bring testing for the obesity drugs beyond Phase II.

The Japanese company plans to pay for 100% of the cost of the drug's commercialisation.

Takashi Akahane, a health-are analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center Co in Tokyo said that the purchase will surely boost Takeda’s product lineup, though it will not be enough to make up for a sales decline in Actos.

Takeda Pharmaceutical's stock fell drastically in 2009 to 22% of its former value in 2008.

Amylin Chief Executive Officer Dan Bradbury said that his company wanted to find a partner who could help them to advance compounds quickly, and achieve something that they could not do by themselves.

He said that Amylin chose Takeda for its expertise in metabolic disease.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the number of obese adults may reach 700 million worldwide in the next five years.

The agreement between the two companies will include drugs unrelated to the obesity medication.

Takeda Chief Executive Officer Yasuchika Hasegawa said that both companies have extensive experience in the diabetes and metabolic disease area.